They say John Tythor made a time travel from 2036 …
Today we're going to delve deeper into the internet legend of John Titor, who allegedly came from the future and stopped in 2000 to post a few posts on the forums. This, friends, is actually the beginning and end of the story. However, we are skeptical and want to know more. Something can be learned from rumors and legends, even if there is no connection with history. The very fact of the origin of the legend is a question, and the weaker the evidence, the more the temptation to dismiss it. This is irresponsible, and we turn our attention to the time traveler John Titor.
His first exposure to the general public, in 1998, was due to John Tythor's several messages on Coast to Coast radio, which aired paranormal programs. Posing as a time traveler from 2036, he warned of a global crash of computer systems at midnight on December 31, 1999, which would cause famine, freezing and military conflicts. John Taitor next appeared in 2000, at a forum called the Time Travel Institute. His nickname was TimeTravel_0. Under the same name, on the forum "From Coast to Coast", a prediction was posted about the outbreak of a civil war in the United States in 2004, which will break the country into 5 regions and result in the Third World War, with a continuation until 2015. Among the predictions of John Titor is the Large Hadron Collider, built by that time. So the time traveler's prediction was that the LHC would lead to the emergence of small black holes. All, without exception, John Tythor's predictions did not come true.
According to John Tytor, he arrived on a military mission and was sent in 1975 from 2036. The main task was to breathe life into the IBM 5100 computer, one of the earliest models of laptop computers with a 5-inch black and white CRT screen. The time traveler argued that there was a need to translate the legacy code. Further, along the way through the years, he decided to stop for several years in 1998. John Tythor made his movements in a car with a built-in time machine. It should be noted that this way of travel is not new, the film "Back to the Future" in 1985 is well known to the public. It cannot be ruled out that the joker chose this old-fashioned way of traveling in time, wanting to play a prank on forum visitors.
Since John Taitor remained active on the forum even after the arrival of 2000, which showed the value of his prophecies, he had to explain the theory of parallel universes. What happened in one universe by 2036, according to John Tythor, does not necessarily happen in a parallel one. Thus, events that happened in 2036 in his universe will not necessarily happen in ours. This is called a special condition. A statement of unverifiable force majeure gives immunity to all statements by a time traveler.
Now the skeptic can discover the reason why John Tythor became famous on the Internet forums. Anyone can easily register and tell whatever they want. You can introduce yourself as Mickey Mouse, Napoleon, or a time traveler from the future. People also sometimes take over the initiative, and there is no guarantee that only one person writes on behalf of John Titor. Likewise, there is no guarantee that radio calls and faxes are not sent by stupid pranksters. This happens several times every day.
John Tytor differs from anonymous posts with his predictions of the future, which are easily verified over time. All predictions turned out to be fake, that is, exactly what one would expect from a casual chatterbox.
Why did John Tythor's story become famous? Why does it exist?
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The joker managed to gain notoriety as a time traveler thanks to the development of the Internet and the Coast to Coast radio station, which is very friendly to such fictions and unverified facts. Nowadays, the density of information on the Internet is much higher, and there are more "time travelers" and other pranksters. John Tythor's fame is now much more difficult.
That being said, note that popular stories on the Internet appear almost daily. It is much more difficult to get to the top today than it was back in 1998, but fictions that won the lottery of fame appear regularly. If we were not talking about John Titor, we would be talking about something else. Our time traveler is popular because he became one of those who gained popularity.
John Titor's story has elements that work in any legend. The possibility of time travel attracts any of us. The author, like others, would like to experience it. We really want time travel to be possible.
Another element is distrust of government: Civil war, martial law, struggle for respect for freedom and democracy. Since the conspiracy theory has lived, many would like to witness these events. There seems to be a connection between conspiracy theorists and the regulars on internet forums. Therefore, John Tytor represents many popular opinions.
To top it off, he has a time machine built into a sports car. Who wouldn't like this?
According to the author, connoisseurs of interesting stories should not like the time traveler John Titor. The author was asked many questions about this traveler, which made me study the materials. There was no limit to surprise when it became clear how insignificant the information was. A number of people believe in John Titor. Most people who are familiar with online pranks simply scoff at the time traveler. Thinking about whether the story deserves an article, the author was worried about the question of its veracity. It would be more interesting to understand how we determine whether a paranormal is worth attention.
Strictly speaking, nothing should be rejected without careful study. On the other hand, we are busy people and there is no time for a detailed examination of everything that surrounds us. A line should be drawn between noteworthy and unworthy. The author believes that John Tythor's time travel story lies behind an imaginary line.
One of the pleasures of exploration is discovery. If someone posts stupid posts on the forums, supporting them for years, it does not add value and veracity to the information posted. There is no room for discovery here, unlike many other legends that grew up on real events.
John Titor's enthusiasts tried to enter from the other side. In 2008, Italian Television planned a show looking for the real John Titor, the one behind that name. Very quickly they realized that it would be a boring show and switched to another topic.
The author avoids such a path and, when choosing a topic, recommends rejecting stories outside the framework of common sense, when, by all indications, we are dealing with fantasy or a joke. There are so many interesting and noteworthy things around us. Time travel? A John Titor joke? Don't waste your time.
Translated with permission from Brian Dunning. Copyrighted by Skeptoid Media
Translation by Vladimir Maksimenko